Abstract
McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant (efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control) are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society. This study analyses how McDonaldization appears in both global and local websites. Charismatic Christian churches are megachurches who are among the fastest growing religious groups in the world due to globalisation. These megachurches are mechanized like a business to reach potential members who are now available online. Websites are the organisations’ front door in an online world, and so it represents the identity of the organisation in the online space, because an organization’s flagship website serves to educate potential members on who they are, what they do, and why they do it. McDonaldization can show up in both global and local churches due to the scripting and routines within global churches like Hillsong. The local churches that were selected for this study are: Bridge Church, Grace Bible Church and Rhema South Bible Church. Hillsong Church was selected as the global forerunner of the megachurch model. The data for this study was collected through internet research and has been analysed using Kress’s Multimodal Social Semiotic model. Findings indicate that the principles of McDonaldization are found in organisations that promote a growth focused trajectory. It is for this reason that charismatic church culture is spread across the world due to McDonaldization. Keywords: Globalization, McDonaldization, Charismatic, Church, Culture, Multimodal, Social Semiotics, Websites.
M.A. (Communication Studies)